Abstract

The ‘Pilot Project in Central Asia for the Human Rights Defenders’ Diploma Programme’ has sought both to strengthen substantive human rights knowledge and support a regional network among human rights defenders from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. The pilot project provides a potential model for developing a multi-regional approach for the support of the practice and education of human rights defenders (HRDs).The project was carried out by the Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute (HRSJ) at London Metropolitan University, the Law Department of Middlesex University, and the UK All Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (PHRG).1 The project was funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the HRSJ Institute was the implementer of the project.We have had the privilege to work over the course of the last ten months with a diverse and dedicated group of human rights defenders (HRDs) from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. This report reflects on that journey and has three aims. The first aim of this report is to describe activities carried out during the ‘Monitoring and Evaluation’ visit to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan from February 19th – 25th, 2010, which was conducted as a final component of the ‘Pilot Project in Central Asia for the Human Rights Defenders’ Diploma Programme.’ The second aim of this report is to assess achievements made during the course of the project, and in particular, how the project was able to support the human rights defenders involved in the project. The third aim of this report is to set realistic goals for our further engagement in the Central Asia region, and to consider the broader aims of the Programme, based on our experiences in the Central Asia region.